It was the same way he had mastered basketball all those years ago at Laney High School. In
some ways it felt good to him to be doing it again, even though many people laughed at him for
trying. But this was the real game. This was the thing that no one could take from him or spoil-the
struggle to learn, the struggle to overcome obstacles... "I liked the work," Michael Jordan said
later, looking back on his baseball experience. "I liked going out there and taking all that batting
practice. I liked taking nothing for granted. I liked the feeling that I could never assume that I
could succeed."

Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player the world has ever seen. That simple truth is
known worldwide by cliche soaked sports writers, coaches, players, and aficionados, run of the
mill fans, school children and people who have never seen a basketball game in their lives. He is
also a global sports marketing phenomenon. But, almost unbelievably, in the world of professional
sports' arrogance and venality, Michael Jordan and his beatific smile are immune to criticism.

Is this assessment justifiable? Yes, as Michael Boughn shows in this short biography written for
young fans, aged 10 thru 14, it is. Why? Because Jordan's superlative athleticism and
psychological stamina were developed through his strength of character. Whether he was playing
a pick-up basketball game as a child, as a high school athlete, a college player, or professional
super star, he was driven to succeed by a relentless pursuit of perfection.

Fans saw in Jordan's efforts to overcome obstacles a quality so far beyond accepted pedestrian
norms that any critical assessments of character were almost blasphemous and will likely continue
to be. As well, Jordan was a player who stuck with his team, even when they had losing seasons;
he never took the easy way out.

Boughn, however, does not sink to mindless hero worship. His Jordan has character flaws but
whether more ought have been included is difficult to calculate. Young fans will enjoy the book. It
has a good mix uplifting role model idealism, basketball heroics, and inner details of the game.

Recommended.

Ian Stewart lives in Winnipeg, MB, and is a regular contributor to CM and the book review page
of the Winnipeg Free Press.